That doorstep moment
Hannah Wilson’s report on her visit to Sylvia Wright’s School for the Deaf in India
January – April 2013-
I must admit, standing on my doorstep that January morning, suitcases packed and passport in hand, the thought crossed my mind that perhaps this wasn’t the best idea. Although it would be nice to leave the horrible weather behind and see some sunshine, India seemed to be a very large leap into the unknown. Fast-forward about ten hours and there I was; recently reunited with my huge suitcase, again passport in hand and waiting outside Chennai airport for....someone! The air smelt like spices and incense (honestly!) and the whole place seemed so alive; women in their brightly coloured saris chattering in Tamil, men talking and smoking and shouting to one another; people on motorbikes buzzing around and taxi drivers honking and swerving around each other; and all this magnified by the heat and the stillness of the night. I was sure I would be enjoying myself, if only I knew who I was waiting for! We eventually found a friendly man waiting with a sign (“You are Miss Hannah?”) and we set off in a taxi for what was definitely the longest and most terrifying taxi ride of my life. Four hours later, when we finally made it to the school, it was still dark and all the curtains were drawn. A man, who I would later learn was the night watchman in the school, hurried out to help us with our bags. We crept down the corridors and I was shown into my room. As I was opening the door, I saw one little girl in a long green nightdress. I waved and she looked at me, bleary-eyed. She smiled and signed that she hadn’t seen me before. Then she pottered off back to her dormitory. I opened the door to my room and sat down on the bed. We had arrived.
When I finally awoke next morning, I heard a certain amount of commotion outside my room. Wondering what was going on, I dressed quickly and peeped around my door, only to be greeted by loud cheers and stampeding children. Turns out that the children had heard there were guests visiting and they were so excited that they decided to wait outside my door until I came out. My only memory of that morning is looking down the corridor and seeing all these children in school shirts and summer dresses; the little ones being held up by the big ones so that they could see me. I have no idea how I made it down to breakfast, but if it was anything like the mornings that followed, I will have had at least 7 children holding on to my hands and arms, with a very small one attempting to attach himself to my leg...!After a rather interesting breakfast (it took us a while to get used to the food!) the teachers arrived and the school day began. The children seemed to approach every lesson with such enthusiasm and it was inspiring to see how much they love to learn and to help the other children in the class to understand and learn. They were very interested to learn new things from us and they quickly taught us to sign the letters of the alphabet so we could communicate with them.
As is the case with all children, the students at RangammalSchool are never happier than when they are playing outside. The boys never tire of playing cricket and when they’re not allowed to play outside, they simply ask to have the television on so they can watch it inside! The girls adore dancing; although they cannot hear the music, one of the teachers beats a large drum and the students are able to follow this beat and dance along. Many of the students are exceptionally talented dancers and they take delight in performing in front of an audience. The students always perform beautiful dances on festival days and, while we were at the school, we were able to watch the students perform on several special days. On 26th January, for example, the students were invited to perform at the sports centre in Tiruvannamalai in celebration of Indian Republic Day. Several schools from the local area were invited to perform at this event. The students from RangammalSchool performed a dance showing customs and traditions from different areas of India, including dances from Kerala, Punjab and Tamil Nadu. The children enjoyed dressing up in bright saris and wearing jewels and face paints. They also very much enjoyed their reward after they finished dancing- ice creams!
The school was originally started by an inspirational woman from Leeds named Sylvia Wright who, 30 years ago, sold all her personal possessions to move to South India and help the poor by setting up a hospital. While we were in Tiruvannamalai, we were able to go visit this hospital, which is modern, well run and staffed by some excellent doctors and nurses. We were also able to go with some hospital staff to some surrounding villages in a mobile unit to raise awareness about the spread of HIV. It was a wonderful experience to be involved with such amazing work and we also enjoyed meeting some people from the villages- all of whom were very interested in these strange foreign visitors!
In addition to starting the school and the hospital, Sylvia also set up day care centres for mentally and physically challenged children. There are two centres on the outskirts of Tiruvannamalai, where parents can take their children to be looked after during the day. The children receive physiotherapy and education specific to their capabilities. They are able to interact and play with the other children and the teachers. The parents of the children are so grateful for the centres, as many say that their child has made significant progress in the time that they have been coming to the centre. The day care centres are so important; without these centres, many of the children would not be looked after during the day, because their parents have to go to work, and they would not receive the physiotherapy they so desperately need, because their parents would not be able to afford the hospital fees. It was wonderful to see the work of the teachers and carers; the children evidently love coming to the centre and arrive every morning with a big smile on their face.
I could carry on with this report and try to tell you about all the festivals we celebrated, the games we played, the food we ate, the lovely cards and presents that the children made me- and a thousand other things! However, it will have to suffice for me to say that it is impossible to put the best three months of my life into words. I will never forget this wonderful experience- and I’m so glad I didn’t turn around on my doorstep on that January morning!